Arts and Culture...

...everywhere this week in British Columbia, not the least of which is at the Ingham Centre here in downtown Creston.

Home to the 'Gluten Free' and 'Crazy Heads' shows, it's chock-full of fabulous artworks.  In the Gluten Free show, participants include Bruce Paterson, Sandy Kunze, Andrea Revoy, Alison Masters, Anne Fetterly, Alison & Bart Bjorkman and Claudette Osterreicher.  Here are some of their works:

Anne Fetterly's onion-dyed fabric panels

 

Alison Masters' work

Andrea Revoy's weaving

 

Andrea Revoy's clay chandelier

Alison Bjorkman's new line of tea ware - Tea Party tonight!

 

And if that's not enough to whet your appetite, you can check out some of these Crazy Heads:

Watch for more photos on Friday, including some of Alison's Tea Party.  In the meantime, I do hope you get down to check it all out!

Are you getting a head?

Well, in Creston, the artists certainly are!

My previous post  let the head out of the bag regarding the focus for this year's art portion Wine Art which happens Friday, May 30, 2014.

Sixteen talented local artists will be doing (or have already done) altered heads that will be auctioned at this event to raise funds for charity (proceeds to the Rotary's coffers that support their local, regional and international good works).  I got a sneak peak yesterday at a couple of the heads.  This elegant bird in a cage by Maureen Cameron and her sister Audrey Herridge is definitely chirping at the top of its lungs.

I had to grin at this one by Joanne Ferry - the understated elegance of the tin can necklace is awesome, and the questions raised in my mind are legion!

Andrea Revoy, the mastermind of this whole production, has a work in progress that is truly amazing.  I can hardly wait to see this one completed!

Here's a sneak peak, partial-view-only, at Anne Fetterley's silkily awesome piece; it's purely mouth-watering already.

Heath and Victoria of Shprixieland Studios have really got something going in this work-in-progress.  Raise your hand if you HAVE to see this one complete!

If that doesn't whet your appetite to be at this event with all of your life savings, I've no idea what would. This show is going to knock us ALL out of our socks!  Tickets are available through any member of the Creston Valley Rotary Club.  If you like tasting wine, eating hors d'ouvres, hobnobbing with old friends and meeting new ones, along with having your socks removed, this is the event for you!

Be sure to check Andrea's post for more photos (yes, I stole these from her!) and details. You too can get a head!

Roadside Crosses...

...is a fabulous book by American author Jeffrey Deaver.  And now, it's the name of something completely different.

' Roadside Crosses:  She Inhaled It Much Too Quickly '
Mixed Media Collaged Head
16 x 16 x13"  © Win Dinn, Artist     2014

This elegant self portrait (can you hear me giggling?) was originally conceived in the brain of Andrea Revoy, the organizer for the art portion of WineArt here in Creston.  She thought it would be fun to have a group of artists (15 in total) create their version of a head, to be auctioned at Wine Art on Friday, May 30/14.  All proceeds from the auction of the heads support Rotary causes.  Being the adventurous (AKA crazy) sort, I jumped at the chance to play.

Book shock was the initial conception, so I started by collaging some disused law book sheets onto the head, knowing the appropriate book would present itself when required.  A trip to Gleaners scored a copy of Jeffrey Deaver's Roadside Crosses - I knew this book, I loved this book, BIG SCORE.  Synchronicity was well in motion given the protagonist, Kathryn Dance, is an agent working for the CBI.

For some obscure reason I thought it would be fun to create curls of hair from painted dryer sheets secured to book sheets, torn into strips, and curled around a wooden skewer - can you imagine anything more entertaining?  You can see here what she thought of it!

The next stage was to poke a wire into the head for each curl, and secure them with gel medium.  Now you know why I've been so stuck up for the past weeks.

Once all the curls had been added, she became known affectionately as Hairy Head (HH), and was definitely needing some facial features.  Here she's test driving an old pair of glasses, facial features in progress, and starting to look a bit shocky, with her headband pieces flapping in the breeze.

With the addition of her own book sheet glasses, eyelashes and facial detailing, she's starting to gain some character - in more ways than one.  

With headband nailed down and flower attached she's nearly complete.

The addition of the distressed Roadside Crosses novel, and the permission of . . . well, DRAT - I'd forgotten to get permission to use this book!.  I fired off an email to Jeffrey Deaver, explaining the concept, auction sale and timing issues.  He very kindly emailed me with his permission within hours.  Now that's how to take care of your fans!  Thank you, Jeffrey.  

Some closeups:

I'm glad she's done, she's glad to be done, and you can see more of her (and bid on her too) at Wine Art. Various entries in the Head Project will be on display during Arts and Culture Week this month - so keep your eyes peeled.  And I'm most grateful to Jeffrey Deaver, responder extraordinaire, for his permission to use his book in such an outlandish way; thank you once again!

I resemble that!

A recent email exchange, with photo, had a friend (you know who you are, Alice!) point out to me that my studio was a complete mess!

I resemble that remark, and so does the studio.  The work tables are covered with fun foam stamps, stamps in progress, and stamped or stencilled book sheets.  A dead crocheted pillow cover awaits an opportunity to make an imprint on something...

Tic Tac Toe canvasses sit in a jumble with wire, cutters, painted papers and other works in progress.

Stencilled book sheets, some glued with painted dryer sheets await attachment to the head project (aka Hairy Head).

And the head itself sits in a state of undress on the drawing table.  With 21 paintings on the go, five altered books and a Hairy Head in the works, is it any wonder the studio's a mess?

How's your studio looking today?  If it's in the same state, we both know we're having too much fun!